


Dear Momma Bird

by CrookedDormouse



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Canon Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-04-02
Packaged: 2018-10-14 03:00:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10527444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrookedDormouse/pseuds/CrookedDormouse
Summary: What motherhood meant for Ana.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Additional warnings: Language, implied PTSD, and implied depression

She didn't know what to think. She didn't know how to wrap her mind around the simple thought. Ana was frozen, feeling a cold numbness wash over her and forgo her stomach to leave it burning.

A baby.

She was going to have a baby.

She couldn't have a baby.

Ana was just a soldier who had too much fire, who knew nothing about settling down ever since she enlisted. There was no way, not a chance she could lessen her flames to warm a child when the enemy was cold and unfeeling. She had promises to keep, people to save, and places to make safe. She simply couldn't step back and force her team to go on without her, without her enhanced gaze and steady hands that were now shaking so badly.

She couldn't.

She couldn't give life.

She was trained only to bring death.

Sitting there, fallen to her knees to hopefully let the cold from the floor go to her stomach, Ana didn't know what to do. Her mind was anything but calm as words from fallen comrades and possibilities rang in her ears. She never really believed in luck, only skill and cruel reality, but she knew that she would be taking on a risk if she stepped back onto the field. She never carried herself alone, always held the ghosts of friends on her back, and yet this felt too much.

She wasn't carrying a ghost, not if she allowed it.

She was carrying a future for the world. A possible doctor, a possible soldier, a possible _hero_.

And that was terrifying.

 

_**-** _

_**Dear Momma Bird...** _

 

It,  _she_ , was there. She was alive and kicking quite literally, a born fighter. Ana couldn't dwell on that thought and shoved it aside when the tiny, tiny hands reached out to her. They were innocent, clean, and pure. At first, Ana didn't want to hold her. Some part of her screamed  when  the baby came close to her scarred, bloodied hands. But another part sung.

She was alive.

She was there.

She was Ana's.

“ Hello there, little one.” She must have sounded so quiet to  anyone that ha d ever heard her orders , but all that mattered was if she was too loud for the baby.

But her child just babbled and reached further until Ana shifted her hands to bring a finger in range. Tiny hands tested and gripped, a first achievement that filled Ana with more warmth than her old home.

Her baby was strong.

Her baby was alive.

Her baby was beautiful.

“Fareeha,” the name spilled out of Ana, all too ready to title her baby with something that she deserved. Even if she had to be a soldier, even if the blood will never disappear from her hands, she would know that the path would be clearer for happiness. For Fareeha. “My joy.” Joy that sat in her arms and had to be bundled again. Joy that clung onto her with tiny, tiny hands that were so strong. Joy that proved for a moment that the world was not as bad as it seemed. A moment that was enough.

Her baby was enough.

Her baby was healthy.

Her baby was alive.

Ana had heard enough about parenting to know that it wasn't going to be like this forever. Time and cruel reality would catch up, swallowing the peaceful moments whole and leaving nothing to show for it. They would argue, there would be tantrums, Fareeha would grow, and at some point Ana would stop. But for just a moment, a moment that felt much longer than it probably was, it seemed like it was going to be worth it all.

_**Hello** _

_**-** _

 

_**-** _

_**Dear Momma Bird, I love you...** _

 

“Captain.” The man sat straight as he addressed her, golden and clean. Blues worked for him, she would admit. But never to his face, as she knew blue was her color. Her daughter said so.

“Strike-Commander,” her voice still tilted into tired playfulness. It managed to get him to relax, groaning and rubbing his face as she sat down near him.

“We don't even know yet.”

“Then maybe you should stop calling me Captain.” The title was meaningless in this war to her. Nearly everyone who became icons of Overwatch were of similar military background. “You know I don't care if you do, Jack.”

“I know, I know.” Jack slouched a bit, finally looking as tired as the rest of them as he rested his golden boy routine. “But that doesn't mean I respect you any less.” That stung a little. The three of them, including Gabriel, always stuck together after what they experienced. Now the U.N. threw that out the window with the gossip they caused. Tension grew from them, but Ana couldn't place how exactly.

Maybe it was because they didn't specify which of them obtained the title.

Maybe it was just the edge of adrenaline as they moved from one unstable spot to the next.

Maybe it was the promise that all three of them would make it out of this alive.

“Jack, he still respects you. You're still his friend. _We're_ still friends, even after that corn talk!” That was a long trip. They had some time before they could arrive at their drop-point, so they briefly talked about themselves. All the necessary talk like where they were from and whom to comfort if they never made it back. It wasn't much time, just enough to learn that Gabriel was good at making clothes and Jack could make corn into anything. She had laughed then, as he tried to explain how corn could fit into any meal. Whoever would be the Strike-Commander, it would be hard to get rid of that image of how flustered Jack got as she laughed or Gabriel's offer to make Fareeha an outfit.

They were still friends.

“Please. Save that political nonsense for when we have to face the press.” She waved a hand at his disbelief.

“Hopefully before another major outbreak occurs.”

“Let's hope!” She mimicked a toast, which the American returned with a chuckle before their ride drifted into silence for a while.

“Honestly, I don't think I've ever really imagined this ending,” Jack began. The tenseness rode on his shoulders. “It's not like I haven't hoped, but...”

“Wars are difficult. Especially when trying to tell when they begin or end.”

“Yeah. It all was simpler in school.” Jack chuckled again without a majority of the mirth. “Just walk to school, walk back to the farm, rinse and repeat.” Always a farm boy. “Kinda hard to imagine where it ends. Kinda hard to imagine me as a Strike-Commander; Gabe should get it.”

“If Gabe gets it, that doesn't mean you're less than a leader. I mean, come on man, you helped our asses more than once! You're both good leaders in your own right. Just because you have different ways doesn't mean you both don't want peace.”

It drifted to silence, Ana giving him the time to think. He smiled after a moment.

“Yeah, I guess you're right.”

“You guess I'm right? How about I accept your apology and you do me a favor and know I'm right instead.” She rolled her eyes and smiled back as she got a laugh out of him.

“I'll accept your gracious offer. What are you, a therapist?”

“No, just a mother.”

There was a flash in Jack's eye, Ana recognizing it whenever he called her “Captain”.

“Well thank you “momma bear”.”

She chortled at the new title.

“If you can't say my name, I'll gladly accept that!”

They both grinned as if they were just two friends sitting in a bar, not as if any moment could take one or both of them away. But it did as their ride stopped and they climbed out to regroup with the rest of their team.

“Hey… Ana.”

She paused and turned quickly.

“Why did you decline?”

His tone carried curiosity and weight, sobering any high spirit her jokes had made during their ride. It reminded her of the letters the three of them received and the letter she sent back. She smiled despite it and placed a finger against her lips.

“I'm a sniper, Jack. I support you all quietly, not run the show. You boys can run and gun and inspire others, but I'll stick with watching your backs.”

She turned again and waved him to follow.

“ Someone has to.”

_**You're a hero** _

_**-** _

 

_**-** _

_**Dear Momma Bird, I know it can be rough…** _

 

Her ears were ringing. Bullets, grenades, screams, cries, they all burrowed deep into her mind all at once. Her body was tense yet exhausted, hands still  but  twitching to pull an invisible trigger. Yet despite the cacophony that brewed inside her, she kept walking. Each step was drowned out by her memories as she passed down the hallways of the base. Perhaps someone tried to talk to her, but she could not make it out.

She had to get there.

She had to make sure.

She had to be strong.

By the time she made it to the personal lounge, she had taken enough deep breaths  to realize that it was far too quiet inside. Some of the walls were soundproof and her ears were still ringing, but it was still too quiet. Especially since she asked Reinhardt to pick Fareeha up if her mission went long. Ana was sure that the mountain of a man would be booming, telling stories and whisking Fareeha off into a world that was not as bleak as her mother saw  it to be . 

She straightened her back before going inside, the ringing in her ears bouncing off of her rising worry, but when she entered, it did not seem necessary.

Reinhardt was sitting down with a large grin on his face that never seemed to disappear, positively beaming.

“Ana, my friend! Come and have a seat!” His voice drowned out the ringing just enough for her to also hear quiet giggling coming from behind the couch. Reinhardt shushed it soon enough but the damage was done and Ana could smile.

“Reinhardt, I think I'll do just that.” She slowly made her way over to the couch, relishing in the soft giggling and the subtle shake of Reinhardt trying not to laugh. It was clear that the two of them could not pull off any prank without blowing their cover immediately, especially when the mountain was such a terrible liar. Maybe that was why Ana felt comfortable leaving her daughter with him over her other friends. That and she knew Torbjorn would try to work while watching her and Fareeha did not like sitting still.

Despite that, as soon as Ana sat down, Fareeha waited a moment before jumping out and onto her mother.

“ Got you!” She sat half on Ana's shoulders and half on the couch,  perching her tiny, yet not so tiny anymore, hands atop Ana's head .

“ You got me.”

“And now you're blind!” Those same hands reached around and covered Ana's eyes just barely, fingers open to let her see everything despite her claim. Ana could only chuckle, her daughter had much to learn.

“My one weakness!” Just for a moment she could pretend to be hurt, even if the smile never went off her face. But it was enough to usher out more of Fareeha's laughter before  Ana reached up and pulled her down into her lap.

“ Did I surprise you? Like the ninjas in Lonely Blade?” Fareeha was already beaming with pride, letting Ana glance curiously over to Reinhardt for a moment.

“You did. Be careful though, try to sneak up on someone else and they might think you're a spy!” Ana let her daughter have her pride before she pressed an attack on Fareeha's sides, extracting the giggling she missed so much.

“I'm not gonna be a spy! I'll sneak for good!” The child's statement was so certain that it almost seemed true. Ana was glad that being surrounded by heroes had managed to guide her down a brighter path, aside from one or two bits from Jesse, but how long that bright path seemed was what Ana was worried for.

Of course, her daughter was too young to be telling her the horrors of war and the consequences that came with it. So Ana settled with a kiss on the forehead.

“I bet you'll be quite good at it,” she chuckled. “But a good sneak gets rest first.” After hefting her rifle and any rubble that came her way, lifting up her daughter was easy.

“Thank you Reinhardt, for taking care of her.”

“It was no trouble, my friend! Try to get some beauty rest yourself!” He stood up, way above Ana, and smiled with familiar gentleness.

In another time, she might have read into it or talked more, but for now she choose simply to  be strong.

“Implying that I need any?”

Laughter and goodnights faded as Ana carried on and the ringing faded in yet again.

 

_**But I'll be with you** _

_**-** _

 

_**-** _

_**Dear Ana, I want to be like you...** _

 

She always dreamed of the day that the war ended. The years of instability had her pining for 'the end' to appear in big bold letters for the chapter of her life. Even if the light of her life had been given to her during the beginning of it, the rest of the bleak fights had taken so much from the world. Despite this, when they finally declared 'the end' of the crisis, she could only see the future as more uncertain.

Things needed rebuilding, people had to be properly mourned, there was still conflict, still fights, still a need for soldiers like her. She could handle that. She felt like she could, others said she could, but there was another crack forming in the foundation of peace she was trying to build. It wasn't as world-threatening to others, but to Ana, Fareeha's bond with her meant a lot. And, with teenage years and unfortunate duties, Fareeha definitely seemed strained with her mother.

Ana, who could rip tanks apart with her bare hands, who could stand perfectly still for so long that people forgot she was there, who could tear apart a room with her gaze alone, did not know what to do.

On some level, she did understand Fareeha. Teenage years were rough for everyone, nothing could be done for that. Her daughter had grown, taller than her mother. Ana had caught her flushed and fidgeting when a girl looked her way more than once. And despite her teasing, as  the soldier simply could not help after seeing her normally cool-headed teen suddenly  forget every word she knew, Ana truly wanted to help.

But that's when the tension was the strongest.

Her daughter wanted to be like her mother.

Her daughter wanted to be a soldier.

Her daughter wanted to be a hero.

She could not let it happen, because she was a soldier. She had seen enough to know that the world was not like Reinhardt's tales or, admittedly, like her own. There were scars, screams, images that would never go away, and she would not let her daughter be like that, like them. She had fought in the war to secure Fareeha's path, to make it clear and bright and peaceful. Now, Fareeha was looking for the fight.

“Absolutely not.”

“Mother, please.” Her voice was so desperate, having caught onto her mother's feelings. There were times where Ana nudged her towards Dr. Ziegler's office and away from the shooting range. Small comments with more edge to them. Ana had hoped it would have been enough, but knew that her daughter inherited too much from her.

“I do not approve, Fareeha. It is too dangerous.” There was so much more she could have said, but the best tactic was to state it with as much severity as Captain Amari could. Her daughter wanted to be a soldier, and Ana knew it was the best chance she had to get through to her. “You do not have to choose this path, I fought for that.”

Fareeha's frown only deepened and her gaze hardened.

“I know it is dangerous, but I am prepared!” Ana internally winced at that, feeling slight regret when she introduced her to self-defense when she was young, but only for a moment. She could regret later because right now she needed to protect her daughter.

“You are not prepared. You can never be prepared for war!” It was harsh, but it had to be done. “And you never will be apart of it as long as I have a say.”

 

_**Why aren't you happy?** _

_**-** _

 

_**-** _

_**Dear Ana, your nest is finally empty...** _

 

Ana knew her friend's footsteps like the back of her hand. Even though he was just now approaching her door, she could hear the signs of Gabriel's heavy boots, posture tall and imposing with confident steps. While newcomers often dreaded the incoming of Blackwatch's commander, she cracked open a smirk before stifling her amusement to plainly answer his knock.

The Blackwatch commander opened the door with little pause, save for when he got a good look at what exactly his friend was doing.

“...What are you doing?”

“Sitting, what does it look like?” She raised an eyebrow at him, not even glancing at what his attention was drawn to.

“It looks like a damn cat, Ana.”

Said 'damn' cat sat in Ana's lap, completely content as she scratched its head. The small rumble from its throat only encouraged her to stroke it more.

“Oh, so you may not need glasses after all.”

“ What the hell is a cat doing here?”

“Jesse found it, Angela looked it over-”

“I thought she was a doctor, not a vet?”

“She's also a genius,” Ana reminded him with a smile. “She is going to get a second, official opinion, but needed someone to watch over the little thing.” Jesse still had his daily training routine to complete, leaving her with a promise that he would take the cat as soon as he was done. She didn't mind the company the tiny cat brought however.

“Hm, so you're shirking work?”

Ana rolled her eyes and looked back down at the bundle of fur. She didn't want Gabriel keep his smirk for long however, and matched it with her own.

“Oh, then what are you doing?”

“ Checking in on an old friend.”

“Really Gabe, what I plan to do with pussy is none of your business,” her voice lifted with her restrained laughter as she glanced over to catch his reaction. The complete look of shock before his shoulders shook slightly only made her smirk grow and mentally add a point to her score.

“Goddammit, Ana...” He shook his head and lowered it to rub his eyes. “Why do I ever let myself think that you grow up?” That comment only made her laugh.

“I grow up plenty, but my humor will never change!” She waved off her laughter before pausing, noticing that the tiny cat had sat up after being jostled by her movement. She pouted before petting the cat back down until it had happily curled up yet again.

“You're gonna be a crazy cat lady, I can tell.” Gabriel's gaze looked over the cat as she continued to scratch at its fur. She hummed at first before grinning, eyes lighting up at another opportunity.

“What? Scared I'll end up with more pussy than you?”

She  maybe  deserved the hit on the arm he gave,  but she was never going to admit it. Though the tiny, tiny cat did not think so and meowed loudly even as Ana chuckled.

“Aww, now you upset it.”

“I upset it? Who's the one making dirty jokes here?”

“Oh let me have my fun,” Ana waved a hand as she used the other to move the cat. “It's been a while since I offended anyone. Fareeha always...”

The unspoken elephant in the room. Present day caught up with her and she could practically feel Gabriel go sympathetic and her hair go grayer. She shifted the kitten back down.

“Ana...”

Gabriel seemed to be contemplating whether or not he should poke the mother bear right in her wound, but despite her moment, she was still aware. Aware of so much. Things have been slowly declining around them; people not acting the same, people and things aging, and people simply moving on. The two of them sitting in that room were prime examples: Gabriel fighting with Jack and growing irritable at the name 'Overwatch' while Ana had her daughter run away.

Yet, for a moment, it wasn't like that. Recently those moments always seemed to go to her.

Perhaps it was her jokes.

Perhaps it was her nature.

Perhaps it was because she was stuck in the past.

Ana did not know, but she had decided that it did not matter. As her nickname stated, she was the mother bear, and she needed to be there for her family. So, for a moment, she could pretend she wasn't worried and that Jack and Gabe were still friends. Just for a moment.

She smiled at him, petting the kitten with a tense hand.

“I'm fine, Gabriel. She'll come home eventually. She's an Amari, after all.”

That night, she tried to call Fareeha again and received silence.

 

_**I learned to fly** _

_**-** _

 

_**-** _

_**Dear Mother, I hope you are okay…** _

 

It was strange, going into the small apartment. Not only was it a stealth mission with no discernible hostiles, but it gave off a certain aura that had Ana on edge. More than she already was.

In the dead of night, when no one could see her, she had slipped inside through one of the many possible entrances. Of course, she made sure to cover her tracks, staying in the apartment for another day before sneaking out was vastly preferable to getting caught. The window shut with just a bit more force than it should have, eliciting a grunt from Ana. Her actions had to be slow, as she couldn't afford to make one mistake. She simply could not be caught.

She did not know what to say if she was caught.

She did not know what to do if she was caught.

She did not even know who would catch her.

The moonlight through the window allowed her to look around the bedroom and glinted off of the trophies that were in an opened box next to the bed. The line of closed boxes on the other side indicated that she did not have much time. And yet, her skills did not stop her from investigating further, eye softening at the titles along the golden awards.

The room was vacant of so many things, and yet had a lot left to be packed.  Something on the desk she wouldn't dare touch, a closet left open with many uniforms and clothes still hung up, and a plush toy that was much paler than she remembered.  Anything else was most likely not going with the rest. She took a moment to listen before placing a hand atop the plush's head.

“Take good care of her,” she silently joked with the toy before stepping around the noisy parts of the floor and over to the desk.

Lines of dust covered its surface along with scratches and tiny accidental marks. Ana could image the owner's face when the stains happened, a bittersweet smile growing.

She left it there, along with a neatly blank letter, inside her daughter's apartment. She did not have time to wonder about the stories she had missed.

Her shaking hands had to be ready to shoot again, so that she could protect the world.

 

_**Wherever you are** _

_**-** _

 

_**-** _

_**Dear Mother, welcome home...** _

 

She was back home. After years of sneaking from point to point, using her codename, and hiding her face, she was back. Back with her family made up of friends from all over the world.

She was back.

She was home.

She was alive.

The last thought seemed to shake everyone who had gathered at the Watchpoint. More often than not it was smiles, tears, and utter respect that greeted her.

Jesse, the lanky kid that used to have a dirty attitude, now stood taller and hairier than before. She may have joked about how he might have been bitten by a wolf, but the joke faded when he hugged her tightly. He was crying as he took his hat off, something he once told her that he does in respect. The boy had grown, yet had not changed one bit.

Lena could beat him for that phrase, however. Her pace was still quick, prone to blinking forward when excited. Her grin was splitting her face and she nearly toppled Ana with her hug. She had a habit of calling her 'Captain' after one inside joke and even then she couldn't seem to stop. Her eyes watered as she sped around her old boss, checking to make sure she was alright for supposedly being dead. Winston made moves to stop her, but even he succumbed to joy as he removed his glasses to cry and hug Ana.

Reinhardt and Torbjorn, however, were different than what she expected. There was no shouting, no violence, nothing she deserved. Instead they were uncharacteristically quiet as they approached her with grayer hair than she remembered. Torbjorn's face was always set in a scowl, but Ana could tell the difference between his normal scowl and the scowl he reserved for his friends. Reinhardt wore his emotions on his sleeve and kept smiling throughout his river of tears. Torbjorn continued off their banter as if the years of lies never happened and Reinhardt held her as if she was going to disappear again. Jack managed to stay quiet during their reunion, but was quickly swept up by the mountain that had just put her down.

Their antics managed to put smiles on the faces she couldn't place. Later she would find out if any of them knew of her, but there were more pressing matters.

She was standing to the side.

She was watching blankly, arms crossed.

She left with a brief sentence only heard by Angela, who was busy staring holes into the rifle on Ana's back.

Ana had to face her.

Once the joy calmed and most eyes were off her, Ana made her way past the scrutinizing gaze of the doctor and onto the balcony. She could only make the first few steps. Even with her back turned, her daughter felt intimidating.

No, her daughter was not intimidating. She was not even trying to be. And yet Ana was uncertain.

Her daughter was nothing more than a stranger now, Ana could not place stories to the scars marking her body. The years between them felt like a great chasm or a deep wound. No matter how physically close she got, that would not change. She would only be invading Fareeha's space.

“...Fareeha.” She received nothing more than a small shift in response. She did not know if she expected more. “...I am back.” As soon as the words left her mouth she felt foolish, but it was not a time to back away. She owed Fareeha that, at least. “You've grown. So very much.”

The stranger tensed, but Ana continued.

“I shouldn't be surprised that you are here, though I would have hoped otherwise.”

“Still?” Fareeha gripped the railing tightly enough that Ana could hear it creaking. “...Whatever you think, I will not leave. I am here to protect people. I am here to do the right thing!”

“You'll only get hurt!”

“I know, I've already been hurt! I know what's at stake!” The younger Amari turned to her with a glare. “You think I don't know?!”

“That is not what I'm saying, Fareeha.” A frown settled on Ana's face as she remembered the fight before her daughter left. “I just don't want you down this path.”

“I want to do this, Captain.” The title was thrown in the air like a spear and stung as much. “I am an adult now, it is my choice.”

“You're still young!”

“And you're still stuck in the past!” Fareeha towered over her, the lanky figure gone and replaced with a soldier. Ana had to look up to meet her eyes and was confronted by her fears. She had seen a familiar gaze in the mirror.

Worn, but powerful.

The look of an Amari.

An Amari that has seen war.

The stranger, her daughter, was no longer a child. Ana did not see her grow. Ana refused to see her grow. But here she was, covered in past wounds that were not entirely physical. Ana caused some of them.

So her singular eye, flashed for a moment with shock, drifted down to harden her gaze again.

“...You have grown.” The silence between them only seemed to spread the canyon of regret. “And I failed to see that.”

Fareeha, despite her mother's influence, did not hide her shock behind a mask like she did. Ana could only smile while debating whether it was good or bad.

“I didn't want this life for you, not out of lack of trust, but because I have seen many good-hearted people die on this path. I didn't want to add you onto that list.”

“...Mom.”

She had once heard a phrase from Jack, something she found silly at the time. Now, she could agree that it was better to build bridges. The bond between them would never be the same, but they could still connect.

Her daughter was still alive.

Her daughter was still strong.

But she was her own woman.

“My Fareeha, I will always be proud of you. It is your decision but no matter what, I will support you.” Ana moved up to touch the tattoo that adorned Fareeha's face. “You are an Amari woman after all, stubborn and impossible to stop! Worried mother or not!”

She was successful as a smile broke onto her daughter's face, ignoring the tears from both of them.

“Well... I learned from the best.”

 

_**I missed you** _

_**-** _

 

_**-** _

_**Dear Momma Bird, I hope that you're proud…** _

 

She looked good in her blues, standing tall, standing proud despite her shoulders shaking slightly and her hands tensing as Ana approached. Even as she expanded her wings further, her mother could still see bits of her child. Stories of each habit never failed to make the older woman smile. Despite the gap of years she had failed to see the younger, yet not so young anymore, woman, Ana had picked up on everything with an accurate eye.

“Captain Amari.”

“Strike-Commader Amari.”

“You know you don't have to call me that.”

“And you know you don't have to call me Captain!”

Her daughter's face cracked open a smile as Ana grinned and stepped forward to wrap her arms around her. The older Amari could feel exhaustion and duty from the younger as she returned the hug. Despite it, she was as strong as ever.

“Why are you here?” As they parted, Fareeha spoke up with briskness that made Ana chuckle. She would slip into her title just fine.

“Oh how hurtful, do I need a reason to visit my daughter?” She brought a hand to her chest and groaned mockingly. “Maybe I should go visit Angela, I'm sure she'd appreciate my company!”

“Th...that's not what I meant!” Fareeha still stammered despite the smirk on Ana's face. “You just always seem to... _pop in_ when you have something planned.”

She supposed “pop in” was accurate, recalling many times in which she savored the startled faces she received. Ana chuckled again and patted her daughter's shoulder.

“Please Fareeha, you all just need lessons in hearing. I'm almost twice your age and I can still place who is behind me in a crowded area!”

The Strike-Commander just shook her head with a smile.

“So it's training recommendations?”

“Please.” Ana returned to her non-teasing smile. “I just wanted to have some tea with you if you can.”

Fareeha paused and shifted to look between her newly appointed desk and her mother.

“Ah, well...” She glanced at a frame among her paperwork and her eyes lifted to the back wall. “Tea would be lovely, mother.” She smiled and stepped out from behind the desk.

As she walked beside Fareeha, Ana could feel her age. Not for the first time, she thought of retirement.

Fareeha, her daughter, the one she fought for, was strong enough to handle a near crisis and a new band of bizarre recruits. She took to the front lines and skies brightly while Ana watched from the shadows. She would be fine as her mother's presence slipped away to occasional calls and into just a warm wind under her feathers. Her daughter had become a mother herself, taking care of a family that Ana had left long ago.

Overwatch would bloom under Fareeha's wings. But still, Ana decided with a chuckle, she would stick around for a while longer.

If for nothing but the shocked looks on peoples' faces when she sneaks up on them.

 

_**-** _

_**Dear Fareeha,** _

_**I am** _

_**-** _


End file.
